I've gone from being clued up about living sustainably in the UK to being totally "green" about the issues in Singapore. Follow me as I discover how to live green in Singapore. @livinggreeninsg

Sunday, 8 July 2012

Never Ending Eco List - #6 to #10

Next update from my #neverendingecolist.

#6 Turn off shower when soaping up - Doing

Back in the UK, I knew that I should really turn off the water whilst washing but I used the warmth of the running water to keep me warm in our chilly bathroom. I don't need to do this here as it's nice and warm, so I can save 12 litres of water for every minute I spend soaping up! Putting that in context, humans need to consume 2 litres of water a day (although a lot of that is already in your food), so that's wasting a lot of useful water!

#7 Find source of recycled tissues - in progress.

I sneeze. A lot. So when my box of tissues ran out at work I had a look in a couple of local convenience stores. All I could find were five-packs of boxes of tissues (wrapped in plastic) and none were recycled.

I'm still working on finding a shop that sells boxes of recycled tissues. I have a bit of time though. Whilst I may sneeze a lot - I still have four unopened boxes under my desk to get through!

If you don't know already, World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) (not to be confused with the renamed wrestling foundation) is one of the world’s largest and most experienced independent conservation organisations.

Established on 29 April 1961, it was the product of a deep concern held by a few eminent gentlemen who were worried by what they saw happening in our world at that time. Since then, WWF has grown up to be one of the largest environmental organisation in the world.

They started their Singapore office in March 2006 to engage individuals and organisations towards making a positive change in their lives and business operations.

Through their awareness campaigns and outreach activities, they aim to educate individuals from all walks of life on how a simple action can add up to make a big difference to our environment and safeguard the world’s biodiversity. They also work with businesses both locally and within the Asia Pacific region to help them identify sustainable business practices, as well as on how they can reduce their ecological foot print on the planet.

Across the Asia Pacific region, WWF has a strong presence and history with conservation programmes in over 22 countries.

I did try to set up a regular payment but they need to text a code to my mobile. Which is fine, except I haven't given my bank the number yet. Fail! But will absolutely send my bank my contact details so I can donate online.

#9 Buy refill versions of toiletries and cleaning items - Doing

The availability of refill packs here is much greater than in the UK. So far we've, bought refill packs for Mama Washing Up Liquid, Kirei Kirei hand soap and Yuri hand soap. In fact, refills are so prevalent that I bought a refill pack of washing liquid for clothes when we first arrived here as there weren't any bottles, just refills! Luckily it had a screwtop so the lack of bottle to pour it into wasn't a problem.